


One of the First

by Undomiel5



Category: Emergency!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slight Canon Divergence, Episode Tag, Gen, complete for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-21 17:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8254211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Undomiel5/pseuds/Undomiel5
Summary: "I never thought growing up that I would want to join the Fire Department or even that I would be allowed to join. But now that I am here, I could not imagine being anywhere else." Join Annie Stoker in her adventures of one of the first female firefighters in Los Angeles. Travel with her as she fights fires, rescues children, and supports her friends.





	1. Chapter 1

Between 1x01—Mascot and 1x09—Dilemma:

“Station 51. Man down at the zoo. Meet the zookeeper. 5333 Zoo Dr. Time out: 15:35.

We all pushed back our chairs and ran for the bay. Captain Hammer went to the radio, wrote down the address, and acknowledged the call, while the rest of us ran for the engine. Chet climbed in behind the Cap’s seat; I climbed in and took my seat, and then Marco took his seat behind our temporary engineer, Brandon Keith. (Our usual engineer, my brother Mike, was out sick with a nasty cold.)

“Why did it have to be at the zoo?” I wondered as we pulled out of the station with wailing sirens. “I hate zoos.”

It took us nearly fifteen minutes to traverse the distance from our station to the zoo. I wondered vaguely why the dispatcher hadn’t sent another station. As we pulled up to the main entrance of the zoo, a man in a uniform came running to meet us. 

Captain Hammer jumped out and ran over to meet him. Johnny and Roy did the same. The rest of us from the engine jumped out and congregated at the front of the engine waiting for instructions. The four spoke for a minute; I couldn’t hear what they were saying. 

Then Cap turned to us. “Kelly and Lopez help with Gage and DeSoto with their gear. Stoker, you and Keith wait here for further instructions.” 

They all gathered the gear and hurried off into the zoo. I was very glad to wait behind and only hoped that there would be nothing needed that would involve me going into the zoo. I hated zoos with a passion.

Less than five minutes later Captain Hammer came on the radio. “Engine 51. HT 51.”

I reached into the engine and grabbed the radio. “Engine 51. Go ahead.”

“I need you and Keith to bring the Stokes on the double.” He said along with directions to the specific place.

“10-4.” I added silently to myself. “Oh bother.”

I dropped the mike and ran for the squad calling for the engineer to follow. Together we pulled the Stokes from the squad and hurried with it into the zoo. We were nearing the designated place when we passed by the Great Ape exhibit, which was on near ground level giving us a clear view inside. A large gorilla, probably drawn by the commotion, was standing near the front of the exhibit.

I stopped abruptly as I saw the one thing I had most wanted to avoid. I was nearly jerked off my feet as Keith had kept on going when I had stopped. I saw him turn back and then his lips start to move, but I kept starring past him at the huge, horrible gorilla.  
Keith put his end of the Stokes down; I had already dropped mine from my nerveless fingers. He approached me; I could see that he was speaking, but I couldn’t hear him for the roaring in my ears. My vision was starting to go black, and a moment later I dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

Keith lunged forward to catch the other firefighter as she dropped to the ground. He lowered her as gently as he could to the ground. For a moment he hesitated, unsure what to do. Then he grabbed for the second HT, hanging from his belt.

“HT 51. This is Engine 51. Come in HT 51.” 

“Go ahead Engine 51. This is HT 51. What’s the hold up?” Captain Hammer’s voice came over the radio.

“I need some help out here. Stoker just collapsed. I’m about a stone’s throw from your position.”

“Engine 51. Help is on the way.” 

Meanwhile inside the nearby building, Captain Dick Hammer jammed the antenna back down on his HT and hurried into the adjoining room. Several boxes of equipment and medical paraphernalia were scattered around as the paramedics worked on the injured man. “Gage, I need you outside. Keith just called: Stoker just collapsed. They’re about a stone’s throw from here.”

“Collapsed!!?” Johnny started to his feet. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Just get out there!” Captain Hammer replied grimly.

“Here.” Roy held out the box containing the Biophone. “Just in case. This guy is stable.”

Johnny grabbed the case and sprinted out of the building. He skidded to a stop for a moment outside looking around for his shift mates. He spotted them a moment later about twenty yards away: Stoker on the ground, Keith kneeling beside her. He sprinted toward them.

“What on earth happened? She was fine when we left the station.” He asked dropping to his knees beside them.

“I don’t know. We were bringing the Stokes to you, when she just stopped in her tracks. I tried to talk to her, but she just kept staring into space behind me, pale as a sheet.” Keith replied; the engineer was rattled; he’d never had a shift mate just collapse like this before.

Johnny reached out and grabbed her arm, feeling for her pulse. He then leaned over, and pulling out a penlight, checked her pupil reactions. After a moment he reached for his HT. “HT 51. Squad 51.

“Go ahead, Squad 51.”

“Cap, you’d better call for another ambulance. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she’s out cold.”

“10-4.” 

A moment later the Captain’s voice came on the air again. “L.A. This is Engine 51. We have a Code-I [an injured firefighter]. Dispatch a second ambulance to this location.”

“10-4. Engine 51.” The dispatcher replied.

Johnny pulled the Biophone closer and opened it up. He pulled the phone out.

“Rampart. This is Squad 51.”

“Go ahead, 51.” This was Dr. Early’s voice.

“Rampart. We have a second victim here, a Code I. Female. About 27. 5 feet 5. About 145 pounds. She is out cold; she suddenly passed out at the scene.”

“What are the vitals, 51?”

“Pulse rapid: 135. BP: 110 over 70. Respiration: ___. Skin is very pale and slightly clammy.”

Captain Hammer came outside a few minutes later and hurried over, as Johnny was finishing inserting an IV. “Second ambulance is here. How is she?”

“Vitals are stable. Don’t know what happened.” Was the reply.

Two ambulance crews came hurrying up a minute later pulling gurneys. The firefighters came outside with the injured man on the Stokes and placed him on one of the gurneys; [the building inside was not easily traversed by a gurney.] Stoker was gently lifted from the ground up to the second gurney by Johnny holding the IV bag in his teeth and the two ambulance attendants. 

The ambulance crews and the paramedics hurried toward the ambulances with their injured patients. A minute later they were racing for Rampart General Hospital.

 

I regained consciousness to the sight of a penlight being shined in my eyes and the ceiling of a hospital ER room behind the face of a doctor. 

The doctor bending over me was Dr. Brackett, I recognized him from times the engine had been at the ER after Johnny, Roy, or one of the engine crew had gotten hurt.

I gave a short groan; my head was pounding. “What happened, doc?”

“That’s what I’d like to know, Stoker.” Dr. Brackett replied stepping back a pace. “There are also six worried firefighters waiting outside who would like to know what’s going on.”

He paused for a moment as Nurse McCall brought him a chart. “You were at the scene of an incident, and you just collapsed.”

I tried to lift my right arm but found that there was an IV in it, so I lifted the other hand and pressed it to my head. “Oh bother. Not again.”

“Not again. Has this happened before?” Doctor Brackett asked.

“Once. Did Roy and Johnny happened to mention where it happen?”

“The zoo. Does it make a difference?”

“The entire difference, since I was in front of the Great Ape exhibit.”

Dr. Bracket’s face was puzzled. “I don’t follow.”

“I have a phobia of monkeys, doc.” I explained. “I’ve had it since I was kid; I can’t even see monkeys on TV.”

“I see.” He made a few notes in the chart he was holding. “How did this start?”

“I am pretty sure one of the old King Kong movies is to blame.”

“I see. . . You were out cold for about a half-an-hour this time. We’re going to keep you overnight just as a precaution.”

I opened my mouth to protest but then thought better of it. “Would you at least go tell the others I’m alright? I don’t want them to worry about me needlessly.”

Dr. Brackett smiled, “Sure.”

 

About 8:30 the next morning I wearily pulled my brother’s car back into his driveway. Boy I was sleepy; hospitals, while conducive for healing, were not overly conducive for sleeping. As I climbed out of the car, I saw my sister-in-law’s face appear briefly at the front of window of their house and then disappear. A moment later she came out onto the porch. I locked the car and then went up the walkway to meet her.

“How’s Mike?” I asked quietly.

“Better.” She replied, “his cough didn’t bother him so much last night. He’s still asleep right now; I work up early. How was your shift?”

I made a face.

“That bad?”

“Not really. It wasn’t too bad up until our call to the zoo.”

“Oh, dear.” My sister-in-law knew of my fear of monkeys.

“Yea, I fainted. I would have gotten a concussion if our temporary engineer hadn’t caught me. I scarred them all half-to-death. And I got a free trip to the hospital and a bed overnight as a precaution. So let’s just say I had a rather lousy day yesterday.”

“I can imagine. . . You look tired, Annie. Why don’t you go on to bed? I’ll come over later to tell you once Mike is up.”

“Sure. Thanks, Mary.”

I took a few steps across the lawn and then turned back. Pulling the keys from my pocket I tossed them gently over to her and then walked slowly across the lawn to the next house where I rented a room. My landlady wasn’t there, so I went straight upstairs, pulled of my shoes, and collapsed on the bed. I was asleep almost as quickly as my head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

1x08--Weird Wednesday:

It was turning out to be one of those days. The squad was out on another weird run, and the rest of us had just sat down to lunch. We had barely taken one bite of the sandwiches Marco had made when the tones went off.

“Engine 51. Child trapped. 1402 Harlem Lane. Time out: 12:18.”

We all pushed back our chairs and headed for the engine, regretfully leaving our lunch behind us. Captain Hammer went to the radio, wrote down the address, and acknowledged the call, while the rest of us ran for the engine. Chet climbed in behind the Cap’s seat; I climbed in and took my seat, and then Marco took his seat behind our engineer, my brother Mike. We didn’t know what kind of rescue it would be, so we all put on our helmets and pulled on our turnout coats as we waited for Cap to come. A moment later he climbed in and handed the address to Mike.

A moment later we pulled out of the station and sped down the road, sirens wailing. 

It was only about five minutes before we slowed to a stop outside the house at the given address. A middle-age woman came running down the driveway as we climbed out of the engine.

“What seems to be the trouble, ma’am?” Captain Stanley asked the woman.

The woman shook her head ruefully and pointed up into a tree in the middle of the front yard. I moved around the front of the engine and stopped next to my brother. We all looked up and up and up. About 40 to 45 feet up in the tree a small boy of about six years old was sitting on a medium-size branch with what looked like a cat in his arms.

We were all stood there with our mouths agape. “How on earth did the boy even get into the tree, nevertheless that far up?” I asked.

“No idea.” My brother said quietly.

The lady started to explain what had happened, “Tommy came in about half-an-hour ago and told me that our cat was stuck up in the tree. I told him not to worry and to go back to playing. About ten minutes ago I came out to check on him, and I found him up in that tree. He’s too scared to come down now. I didn’t know what to do but call the fire department.”

“You did the right thing, ma’am.” Cap replied.

“Alright, let’s get a ladder up there.” He said turning back to us. We were still gathered a few feet away around the engine waiting for instructions.

“But Cap,” said Chet, “a ladder won’t go even half way up there. The branches are too thick.”

“We’ll take what we can get;” Cap replied, “now you and Marco get the ladder.”

Cap moved ahead toward the tree, while Chet and Marco ran to get a ladder. Mike and I stayed by the engine, waiting to see what we needed to do. While they were setting the ladder up, Cap studied the tree, called a few words up to the boy, and then jogged back over to us. 

“I think it would be best if you went up, Annie.” He said. “That boy is pretty far up. And where he is some of the branches aren’t that big, and most of them are close together making moving a little difficult.”

“And since I’m the smallest and the lightest, I’ll probably have an easier time getting to him.”

“Correct. Mike, you can go up to the top of the ladder and give her a hand.”

“Sure, Cap.”

We hurried back over toward the tree. Marco and Chet had just finished getting the ladder into position. They moved aside, and Mike and I started climbing and climbing. There was a thick branch just higher than the top of the ladder, and I stepped off the ladder and onto this. I looked back down past my brother toward the ground. Cap and Chet and Marco seemed a little small from twenty some feet up in the air.

“Be careful.” My brother said.

I took one last look down before looking up to see where the best hand and foot holds would be. “I will be.”

Carefully I started to climb up the tree. The branches were thick at the beginning, though they were a little too close together, forcing me to occasionally use one hand to push some smaller branches out of the way. I stuck close to the trunk as I climbed.

It took me over five minutes to climb the twenty feet from the top of the ladder to a branch just below where Tommy was. Standing on this our faces were about even, though a little bit apart.

“Tommy, isn’t it?”

The little boy nodded his head up and down.

“I’m Annie. I’ve come to take you down. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No,” he said, “I’m just scared.”

“Well, I’ll try to have you down very quickly.” 

I looked around trying to figure out the best way to get a hold on the boy. With a little trouble I managed to turn around so that my back was facing Tommy.

“Alright, Tommy, this is what I want you to do.” I said looking back over my shoulder at him. “I want you to put the cat down on the branch. And then I want you to climb onto my back and lock your arms around my neck. Can you do that for me?”

“But I can’t leave Smokey. She’s stuck up here.” He replied plaintively.

I really doubted that the cat was actually stuck, but I said, “I’ll come back for the cat, kid; my main priority is getting you down safe and sound. Now come on. Climb onto my back.”

Tommy gently placed the cat down on the branch and petted her fur gently. He then turned on the branch and climbed onto my back. Once I knew that the kid had a good grip, I started to climb back down the tree. Down-climbing with a kid on my back was much harder, but I safely got back down to the top of the ladder. I stopped on a branch just above the ladder; Tommy slid off my back and into Mike’s waiting arms. 

“Are you alright?” My brother asked as he helped the kid onto the ladder.

“Fine,” I replied, “I’m going back for the cat and then I’ll be down. Tell Cap, would you?”

“Sure. Come on, Tommy, slow and easy. Take your time.”

They started climbing down the ladder. I wiped a hand across my face and started climbing back up. “A pox on cats!” I thought. I climbed back up the tree by a slightly different route so that I could hopefully have an easier time grabbing the cat. I still wasn’t totally sure how I was going to climb back down holding it. It turned out that I didn’t have to.

I was getting a little tired by the time I reached the branch where the cat was. Looking down through the thick canopy of branches I could see my brother waiting for me at the top of the ladder, Marco down below standing on the bottom of the ladder helping to keep it steady on the slightly uneven ground, and Chet and Cap standing a little ways from the tree watching my progress. I kneeled down on a large branch, wrapping my right arm around a different branch to help secure myself, and then reached out to grab the cat with the other hand. 

The grey cat hissed at me and then swatted at me with one of his front paws. I felt a stinging sensation on my hand and then saw blood start to well out of three parallel cuts between the base of my thumb and my wrist. I gave a cry of pain and jerked my hand backwards clutching it to my chest. (I berated myself for not putting my gloves back on; I had taken them off earlier, finding it easier to climb without them, and hadn’t thought to put them back on.) I clutched at the branch I had wrapped my arm around and fought to keep my balance. 

I gritted my teeth and fought back tears. I put pressure on the cuts as best I could for being forty feet up in a tree. I could hear yelling from below, Cap’s voice and Mike’s. The cat remained on the branch for a minute just watching me and then, as if mocking me, started to climb down on its own. Stupid cats!! 

I looked down again, as Mike started shouting up to me again. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“That stupid cat clawed me.” I shouted back.

I heard him calling the news down to Cap who shouted something back, and then my brother called up to me again. “Can you make it down by yourself, or do you need help?”

I was determined to make it down by myself. I wasn’t sure I’d ever live it down, if they had to come and help me down or even worse call a ladder truck to get me down. “I think I can make it down, Mike. Just give me a minute.” I called down; I could see my brother’s worried face slightly through the branches.

Mike shouted this news down to Cap and then called back up to me. “Be careful!”

I stayed there kneeling on that branch for several more minutes, trying to get my hand to stop bleeding. My hand was covered in blood; I tried to wipe the palm of my hand on my turnouts to get some of the blood off but was only partially successful. After another minute I slowly started to climb down.

Climbing down this time was much harder. My hand burned and stung every time I put too much weight on it, and the drying blood made my fingers want to stick together. The climbing even made the cuts start bleeding again, making that hand even more slippery. I slipped several times and gained several scrapes on my injured hand. I could almost feel my brother’s eyes boring into my back, waiting to see if I would need help.

Finally I reached the ladder. I sat down on a branch just above it to rest for a moment. 

“I though I’ve told you not to scare me like that.” My brother said.

I gave a weak smile. “Sorry, Mike.” My hand was really hurting by now. I unbuttoned three buttons on my turnout coat and stuck my hand inside my jacket, making a makeshift sling. Mike moved a few rungs down the ladder giving me room to climb on in front of him. Slowly we climbed down together.

I was very glad when I stepped off the ladder onto terra firma. I had had enough of trees and cats for a long time. Mike guided me over to sit on the back of the engine, while Chet ran to get the first aid kit. 

“I think these cuts are going to need stiches,” said Chet as he started to wrap gauze around the cuts.

“We’ll drive over to Rampart.” Cap replied. 

Mike left me and went to start up the engine, while Chet finished bandaging my hand. As soon as that was done he went to put the first aid kit away, while Marco gave me a hand to get into the engine. Chet and Cap climbed in, and then we were off.

“Engine 51. Rescue complete. One Code-I. Engine 51 is 10-7 to Rampart.” I heard Cap on the radio as we pulled away from the house.

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. The pain in my head had settled down to a dull ache. 

“I’m guessing you won’t want a pet cat anytime soon?” Chet asked.

I opened my eyes. His face was jocular, but his eyes were slightly worried. Chet was annoying sometimes, but he was a loyal friend when the chips were down. “Not on your life.”

We arrived at Rampart General Hospital about ten minutes later. As my brother drove the engine around toward the Emergency entrance, Marco suddenly said: “There’s the squad.” 

Mike pulled the engine to a stop in a place where it would be relatively out of the way. Since my seat was between him and Chet, Marco jumped out to let me out. 

As I passed his window, Cap said: “Go get your hand looked at, Annie. We’ll be here when you’re done.”

“Yes, sir.” I replied.

Cradling my injured hand I walked across the parking lot, past an ambulance and our squad, and in the doors. Looking around for Johnny and Roy I spotted them down at the nurse’s station with Nurse McCall. Johnny spotted me as he turned around and nudged Roy.

“What are you doing here, Annie?” Johnny asked as I approached the desk.

I didn’t answer with words but brandished my bandaged hand so that the blood stain on the back of my hand was clearly visible. There was a collective wince as they saw it.

“Treatment 3 is open. Take her in there.” Nurse McCall said to Johnny and Roy. “I’ll send a doctor in when I can.”

“Thanks, Miss McCall,” I said as Johnny and Roy shepherded me away.

Johnny pushed the swinging door open for me, and I went past him into Treatment Room 3 and took a seat on the examination table to wait for the doctor.

“What happened to you?” Johnny asked.

“You’re not going to believe it.” I replied.

“Try us,” put in Roy, “after the runs we have had so far today, I think we’ll believe almost anything.”

“Well, we’d just sat down to lunch when the tones went off . . .”


	3. Chapter 3

Between 1x11—Crash and 2x01—Decision:

I started awake from a dream thinking that I was back at the fire station and that the tones had gone off. Opening my eyes I saw the ceiling of my bedroom instead of the ceiling of the bunk room. Sighing with relief since I still felt sort of sleepy, I rolled over and pulled the covers back up. 

But then I sat up again with a start suddenly wide awake as I caught sight of my clock. 6:32 it read. I was late, late, late!! My shift and Mike’s started at 7:00, and we liked to be there early by about 6:30 especially since we had a new captain.

I sprang to my feet and ran to the window and peaked out. Looking out at my brother’s house next door I didn’t see him in the yard. “Was he running behind too?” I wondered.

I pushed the curtains closed and started to change into my day clothes. “Why didn’t I wake up when my alarm went off? Did I sleep though it? Did it not go off?” All these thoughts ran quickly through my head, as I got ready to go. 

I stuffed a few things in my pockets and grabbed my jacket off the back of my desk chair. I tiptoed downstairs trying not to wake my landlady. It was days like these I was glad I lived next door to my brother. After glancing at my watch again – 6:45 am, I decided that I’d get breakfast (hopefully) at the station if the calls were corporative. Glancing outside I still didn’t see my brother. Hurriedly I put on my shoes and went outside making sure to lock the door.

As I hurried across the lawn, I saw my brother exiting his house and then hurrying toward the car. We reached the car at almost the same time. 6:47 am, fifteen minutes since I woke up.

Once Mike had pulled out of the drive, and we were on our way, I said: “I’m sorry I was late, Mike. I don’t know what happened. Either I slept through my alarm, or it didn’t go off.”

“That’s alright, Annie.” He replied. “My alarm didn’t go off either. I’ve been sleeping on the couch while Mary’s sick, and I pulled out my extra alarm clock to use. Apparently the thing didn’t work as well as I thought it would.”

Mary was my brother’s wife. She had been sick with a cold and a bad cough for several days now. “She feeling any better?”

“A little.”

“Good.” For a moment all was quiet, and then I said suddenly. “You know, Mikey, of all the rotten luck.”

“What?” He glanced over at me for a moment as we slowed to make a turn.

“Really, we haven’t been late once since we came to Station 51, and then the first day we’re late . . .”

“Is when we just got a new captain three shift ago.” Mike finished my sentence for me. We weren’t twins, but we did finish each other’s sentences occasionally. “We do have really bad timing.”

“The worst.” 

We drove the rest of the way to the station in silence. As we got close, I glanced at my watch again – 7:07. We were officially late; I only hoped our new captain wasn’t too sore at us. He seemed nice enough, but we had only had him for three shifts.

“Oh, brother. Even Johnny and Chet are there.” I said as we pulled into the station and I caught sight of Johnny’s Land Rover and Chet’s car.

Mike pulled the car into an empty space, and we both dashed for the station. The weather was quite pleasant, and both sets of bay doors were open. The engine was in its usual place, but the squad was pulled forward partway into the driveway, and Johnny and Roy were mopping the floor, as we dashed inside.

“It’s about time you got here.” Johnny said catching sight of us. “You get lost or something.”

I skidded to a stop, while Mike continued on toward the locker room. It was especially needful that he was ready for a call, since he was the only one beside the captain who could drive the engine. “Not quite, Johnny. We had alarm clock trouble.” I said. “Mike’s didn’t go off, and mine either didn’t go off or I slept through it.”

“I see.” This time Roy spoke. “We were starting to worry a little since you two are almost never late.”

“Believe me it was not intentional. Is the captain too steamed up?” I asked quietly.

“He was a little earlier, but he calmed down. I explained a few things to him.” Roy replied in the same low tone. We didn’t really want our voices to carry over to the Captain Stanley’s office.

“Thanks, Roy. I appreciate it. Uh, by the way, who is cooking today?”

“No problem. Marco’s cooking, I believe.”

“Could you ask him if he can spare a few minutes to make some breakfast for Mike and me? I ran out of the house without breakfast since I was so late, and I am guessing Mike did too.”

“Sure,” said Roy leaning his mop against the wall, “I’ll go ask him. You go get ready for the shift.”

I hurried into the locker room to the portioned off space in the back of the room where my locker was. The door slammed shut a minute later, as Mike hurried out. Marco was standing at the stove as I jogged into the rec room a few minutes later. I sat down at the table beside my brother, who pushed a cup of coffee across to me. 

Marco glanced back at us for a second before returning his attention to his work. “I’ll have some food for you two in just a minute.”

“Thanks, Marco.” I said, and a little more quietly. “Thanks Mike.”

Roy came into the rec room a few minutes later, as Mike and I were eating breakfast.

“Cap wants to see you two, as soon as you finish eating.”

Mike and I looked at each other. I’m sure my face must have looked worried. There was nothing we could have done. Our only hope was that cap wouldn’t get too worked up.

We finished our breakfast and put our dishes in the sink to be washed. Part of me wanted to be as slow as possible; I always hated getting new captains; you had to tiptoe around for a while until you figured out what they were like.

“Come on, Annie.” Mike said; we were alone now in the rec room; the others had gone off to attend to their various chores. “We might as well get it over with.”

“Yea, I suppose.” I replied, following him out of the room.

Roy had pulled the squad back into the bay by now. And we filled past it, past the radio and the map, to Cap’s office. He was sitting at his desk working on some paperwork. He looked up as Mike knocked. 

“Come in.” He said. “Shut the door behind you.”

I gulped silently but did what he asked. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. I moved to lean against the wall so I could see the captain a little better. The way Mike was standing he was mostly blocking cap’s view of me. Overprotective older brothers, if someone was going to get in trouble, I was sure Mike would try to make sure it was him and not me.

“Is everything alright?” Cap asked. At most his tone was slightly annoyed. “We were surprised that you two were late?”

“We’re sorry, captain.” Mike said. “My wife’s been sick. Our alarms clocks went bust, and then on top of that the traffic was bad. We got here as fast as we could.”

“Alright. Things happen. But try not to do it again.”

“Yes, sir.” We both said.

Cap waved a hand, and we were dismissed.


	4. Chapter 4

2x11--Musical Mania:

Carefully I unhooked the hose from the pulley, attached it too the hook, and started to lower the rope back down to my brother.

“Watch your head, Mikey.” I called.

Mike waved a hand in acknowledgement and reached up to catch the rope. As he moved to attach it to the next hose, a horrible sound rang out from the station. 

I jumped what felt like ten feet and had to clutch the rail in front of me to keep from losing my balance. I looked down from the hose tower at my brother as the horrible sound kept going and going.

“What on earth is that?” I asked. “Who’s strangling a cat?”

From the look on his face as he looked toward the station, my brother either wanted to stuff cotton in his ears or in whatever was making that horrible racket.

“Sounds like bagpipes.” He said. “And do be careful up there, Annie.”

I started to pull up the next hose, wincing now and then as the racket continued.

“It must be Johnny.” I said. “Roy said that Johnny had gotten on a musical kick. A pox on Chet!”

I started to lower the rope back down as Mike replied. “The sooner he quits the better.”

I agreed. It was loud enough out here; I couldn’t imagine and didn’t want to how it sounded inside the station.

Just as I finished attaching the last hose, I heard the tones go off. I paused as the tones begin, waiting to see whether the engine would be called for. 

“Engine 51. Squad 51. Man trapped. 515 Kenmore Street. 515 Kenmore Street. Time out: 14:34.”

Mike bolted for the station, as I started to scramble toward the ladder. I managed to make it down without falling and ran after my brother toward the station.


	5. Chapter 5

2x13—Drivers:

I had been sleeping soundly for a while, when suddenly the lights in the bunk room came on and the tones started blaring. 

“Station 51, Engine 42, Engine 5. Unknown type fire. 21129 Pomona Boulevard. 21129 Pomona Boulevard. Cross Street 212th. Time out 0046.” Came the voice of the dispatcher over the radio. 

Even as he started to speak, I was jamming my feet into my boots and turnouts pants and running for the engine along with the rest of the crew. Captain Stanley went toward the radio to acknowledge the call, while the rest of us took our places in the engine. In the few moments we had to wait for cap, we put on our turnouts jackets and helmets. Our air tanks we would put on later if we needed them.

Moments later we were pulling out of the station with flashing lights and wailing sirens. It only took a few minutes to reach the scene of the fire. As we drove up the street, we saw flickering flames emerging from a trash bin: a trash fire. Chet, Marco and I all hopped out on the side of the engine toward the fire, while Mike went to set the dials on his side of the engine. Cap still stood in the engine watching what we were doing. 

Chet and Marco pulled out a hose and began to spray down the fire. I hang back out of the way; with this small a fire I probably wouldn’t be needed. If there was a bigger fire, I would sometimes spell one of them on a hose when they needed a break.

As we worked, I could hear the dispatcher releasing the other companies, and then a few moments later out of the corner of my eye I saw the squad leave.

About five minutes passed before we had the fire out, had turned over the debris to ward against smoldering embers, and had begun to pack away the hose. I was starting to hope that we would be able to go back to the station and back to bed, when I heard the tones ring again over the radio, and then came the voice of the dispatcher:

“Engine 29, Engine 51, Engine 37, Engine 105, Truck 8, Battalion 14. Structure fire at the hotel. 22123 Flores Boulevard. 22123 Flores Boulevard. Cross Street 221st. Time out 0056.”

With those words all my hope of sleeping any time soon was dashed. We finished packing the hose away and jumped into the engine. The drive to the hotel was short. The sight we saw wasn’t good. It was an old hotel pretty well involved with flames shooting out as we pulled out. Several units had already arrived by the time we pulled up. Our squad was there along with two trucks and two other engines.

With our gear all one and our tanks full of air we were ready to work as we stepped off the engine. Mike went to his appointed place by the gages, and Cap started issuing orders: Chet and Marco were to take Roy and Johnny’s gear up to them and I was to help with the search. 

I followed close behind as Marco and Chet carried a Stokes basket full of gear into the hotel. The fourth floor was fully involved with fire bursting through the roof, but for now the lower levels were just extremely smoky. The situation was made even more treacherous by puddles of water and hoses stretched upstairs, across floors, and generally all over the place.

I waited outside in the smoky hall as Marco and Chet carried the gear into Roy and Johnny. We had already rescued five people from the third floor, but as soon as Marco and Chet came out, we set to finish the search on that floor to make sure no one else was trapped. 

It only took a few minutes to finish searching the third floor; no one else was present, except for Roy, Johnny, and their cardiac victim. We then headed down to the second floor; it was more crowded here with a myriad of hoses and firefighters from some of the other engine companies moving around. 

We had been inside the burning building for a little under ten minutes by now; the fire was now mostly under control. The first floor had been searched, and we had just finished searching the second floor, when orders came to exit the building. By this time I wasn’t feeling so good; I was hot (as could be expected), but I didn’t feel like I was coming down with heat stroke; I was starting to feel a little light headed, and I was struggling to get enough air. It felt like my SCBA wasn’t working right.

I stumbled into Chet as we moved toward the stairs to exit the hotel. He turned back and caught me so I didn’t fall.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

I didn’t answer but broke into a coughing fit instead.

Chet looked down the stairs and shouted for Marco, who had been a few paces ahead of us. Marco hurried back up the steps, “What’s wrong?” He shouted.

“I don’t know,” Chet shouted back, “She stumbled against me and almost fell. She seems dizzy.”

I didn’t have enough breath to try to shout, but I tried to gesture back toward my air tank, hoping they would understand. 

Chet caught on first. “Something’s wrong with your air tank?” 

I nodded. Chet moved behind me and started to look over my SCBA, checking for anything amiss. Marco meanwhile took off his mask and motioned for me to do the same. When I had done so, he pressed his mask over my face. It was a relief to feel pure air as I breathed; after a few more breaths I was able to explain.

“Something’s wrong with my tank. I’m not getting enough air; and I’m getting a face full of smoke, too.” I said broken by a few coughs.

“I don’t see anything,” Chet shouted after a few more moments, “but the light is awful. Let’s get her outside.”

Marco returned his mask to his own face and then helped me fix mine. Even damaged I would get better air with my tank then without it. Chet started down the stairs first; I followed behind him with Marco supporting me. 

One of the trucks was starting to lift the cardiac victim from the third floor as we exited the building. With Marco half-holding me upright we moved over toward our own engine. Chet had stopped as we exited the building to help one of Engine 105’s crew with an unwieldy hose.

“Cap,” Marco shouted as we got close. 

Captain Stanley had been on the far side of the engine but came around front at Marco’s shout. He hurried forward as he caught sight of us. He took hold of my other arm and helped Marco lower me down to a seat on the pavement.

“Mike,” Cap shouted, starting to help Marco remove my air tank, then he asked, “What on earth happened?”

My brother appeared around the other side of the engine a moment later. He crouched down beside me, though I didn’t see him for a moment as I broke into a bad coughing fit. Mike was wearing his air tank but wasn’t using it at the moment; he pulled the strap of the mask from around his neck and pressed the mask to my face while putting his other arm around my shoulders to help me sit up.

“I don’t know for sure, Cap.” Marco replied, “She started having trouble inside, said something was wrong with her air tank.”  
“Get me a light, and I’ll take a look.” 

Marco left and returned in a minute with a flashlight. With Marco holding a light Cap started to examine my air tank carefully. I wasn’t paying too much attention to them, being more concerned with trying to get enough air into my lungs. Thankfully after a couple minutes of breathing good air from Mike’s tank, my cough started to quiet. After another minute I started to pull the mask from my air so that I could say something, but my brother gave me a look and kept the mask over my face.

“Keep breathing,” he said, “you sounded like you were trying to cough up a lung a few minutes ago. You keep breathing the oxygen until Johnny can have a look at you.”

Both of our paramedics had by this time exited the building with the cardiac patient, and Roy was on the way to the hospital with said victim. There were several other firefighters with minor injuries: heat stroke, smoke inhalation, and the like. Johnny as the only other paramedic on the scene was making the rounds and would get to me in a little while.

As Mike finished speaking, Cap stood up from he was crouching by my SCBA and lifted it around more in front of me.

“Here’s your problem,” he said.

With the assistance of the light I could see that Cap was pointing out a small crack in the hose that connected the air tank and the face mask.

“But I checked it carefully yesterday. Twice even.” I pulled the mask away long enough to say this.

“It’s very small; you might have missed it, or it might not have been there earlier when you checked your equipment. Just be glad that you three were all together, or something worse could have happened.”


	6. Chapter 6

3x16--Messin' Around:

I had just finished making the beds in the bunk room as I heard the main door of the station start to rise and then the squad start to back in. I hurried out of the bunk room and around the engine while trying to fix my braid that didn’t want to stay pinned to my head for the life of it.

“How’s the kid?” I asked as I saw Johnny and Roy start to get out of the squad.

“He’ll be fine, just a little too much cookie dough,” replied Johnny.

I winced. “Poor kid.”

“Yea, especially when he’s well enough for his mother to deal with him,” added Roy.

The three of us walked together into the rec room where the rest of our shift was gathered. Cap was sitting at the table working on some paperwork. Marco was rummaging around in the fridge; it was his turn to cook today. My brother Mike was sitting on the couch reading the paper, and Chet was studying the bulletin board intently.

Johnny paused at the table to see what Cap was doing, and Roy started inquring of Marco what was for lunch. I moved around them to get a cup of coffee. As I started to open the cabinet, I heard Chet’s almost frantic voice, “No, Annie, don’t!”

His warning came too late. I pulled the cabinet open. There was a sprong, and a moment later I had a face full of water. I groaned and wiped my hands across my face, trying to get the water out of my eyes. 

“Chet . . .” Said my brother, half rising from his place on the couch. I knew that tone of voice; my brother rarely used it, but when he did, it meant someone was treading on very thin ice.

I turned in time to catch the towel Marco tossed to me.

“It wasn’t meant for her, Mike. Honest!” Chet almost looked terrified. 

Mike subsided back onto the couch but still had a look on his face that boded ill for Chet if he stepped a foot out of line the rest of the day.

“Go change your clothes, Annie. Chet can clean up this mess.” Cap said with a look at Chet as he finished.

“Yes, sir.” Chet started over to get a mop, while I headed back to the locker room to change out of my clothes.

I was halfway across the bay as the tones started. “Please just be the squad. Please just be the squad.” I thought to myself. I did NOT want to go out on a run in wet clothes. 

“Squad 51. Man down. 9160 Fillmore Lane. Cross street 5th. Time out: 14:05.”

I paused to watch the squad pull out and then continued on toward the locker room.

Meanwhile, in the squad, as soon as they were on their way to the incident, Johnny looked over at his partner and asked: “What was with Chet? He looked almost terrified, and I didn’t know Mike could even get that worked up.”

Roy glanced over for a second before turning his attention back to the road. “You’d be terrified too if you might face the prospect of eating turnip greens every shift for a month.”

“Turnip greens!?! What does that have to do with this?”

“Simple. About three months after Mike and Annie transferred to 51 . . .”

“They transferred? I didn’t know that.”

“It was before you came here, Johnny,” said Roy, “As I was saying, about three months after they transferred to 51, Chet had the bright idea of pulling a practical joke on Annie. It had been a long and hard shift. We got back to the station one afternoon after a rather nasty industrial fire. We were all hot, sweaty, and grimy. We pulled lots to see who got to take a shower first. Annie won. She went into the locker room to get a change of clothes. The next thing we heard was a yell. We went to check on her, and we found her standing in front of her locker still wearing her turnout gear covered in red dye.”

Johnny winced. “Oh, Chet. . .”

“Let’s just say that Annie didn’t take it so well. Cap dragged Chet off for a lecture, and Mike stayed to calm her down, while the rest of went back into the bay to wait. Five or ten minutes later Chet came out of Cap’s office about the same time Mike came out of the locker room. Mike had a look on his face we couldn’t decipher. Some of us thought there might be a fight. But Mike was quite calm, he went with Chet out back for a minute. Mike said something. Chet got this look on his face. Mike patted him on the shoulder and then went back to the rec room. We asked Chet later what Mike had said. Chet said that Mike had promised him that if he ever pulled another joke on Annie again, then he would volunteer to cook every shift for a month and would make Chet nothing but turnip greens.”

Roy paused for a moment as he turned onto another street and then continued. “Let’s just say Chet has pulled tricks on the rest of us, but he has never pulled another one on Annie until the accident today.”

“Think Mike will go through on his threat.”

“Probably not. It was obvious from what Chet said and from the look on his face that the water bomb was intended for her.”


	7. Chapter 7

6x11—Paperwork:

The sound of grumbling filled the air as Mike and I worked on cleaning the engine late one afternoon. I crouched carefully on top of the engine as I tried to work on getting the remaining soot off the paint. We had a particularly nasty fire earlier that day that had left firemen and trucks covered in soot. 

“What are they grumbling about?” I asked peering over the edge down at my brother. “Sounds like Marco is getting the short end of the stick.”

Mike looked back toward the rec room for a moment before returning his attention to the cleaning. “Probably those reports the computer messed up.” He said quietly.

“Those? I thought they Chet finished them already.”

“Apparently not.”

We had just started back to our cleaning when Captain Stanley’s voice rang out from the rec room. “Stoker.”

Mike set down his brush. “Which one, Cap.?” He called back. (It did get sort of confusing sometimes. If someone called for Stoker, we didn’t know whom he wanted: me or Mike.)

“Both of you.” Cap replied. 

“Be there in a moment .” 

Mike dropped his brush into the bucket partially of soapy water at his feet and then lifted the bucket up so that I could drop my brush into it. He then turned to move the bucket out of the walking path until we could come back and finish the job. As he did this, I looked around to see the best way to get off the engine. I basically had two choices: jump the 6 or 7 feet down to the floor or go back along the bed over the hoses, which we had finished restacking earlier. 

I made a face at my dilemma. Deciding that I’d rather jump down than mess up the hoses, I moved across to the edge of the engine and sat down dangling my legs over the side. Mike turned back and saw my dilemma. 

“Stoker!” Cap’s voice rang out again from the rec room.

“We’ll be there in a moment, Cap.” For a moment my easygoing brother’s voice almost sounded annoyed. 

Mike put his hands out and motioned me to jump. “Come on, sis, before Cap blows a fuse. I’ll catch you.”

It wasn’t that big of drop comparatively speaking, but I closed my eyes anyway as I pushed myself off the engine. A second later I landed on the floor with a jolt. I stumbled and would have fallen, but I felt my brother’s hands on my shoulders as he caught my fall.

I looked up at my brother with a smile of thanks as we moved toward the rec room. The rest of the shift was gathered around the table. Cap handed each of a handful of papers as we sat down.

“What are these?” I asked just to make sure.

“Those reports,” he replied, “we’re all going to work on them, and nobody is leaving until they are done.”

As I settled down to work, I had a feeling that this was going to be a long shift.


End file.
